Wine-maker Sean Thackrey; an interview on winemaking;
where to find his wines Orion, Pleiades,Taurus; and his history of wine e-text
librar

::
Grapes, crushed, ferment.::
Human intervention is not required, except in pursuit of pleasure. ::
So wine-making is a pursuit of pleasure; and since it both proceeds
and ends in a process of savoring for which the contemplation of wine
is the archetype itself, the process of savoring is both the subject
and the object of this website.

::
The first section is called The Thackrey
Library: an Archaeology of Pleasures. It is an attempt to provide
an on-line archive of early texts on the making and understanding of
wine, not excluding those somersaults & mysteries, jokes & inspirations
that are part of the pleasure this is all about. Since, to my knowledge,
no such anthology has ever been offered, even in print, it is by far
the most important contribution I can hope this site might make.:: After all, our wines have emerged
from our understandings, not our geology. Without any comprehension
of the ancient and extraordinarily complex culture of wine, how can
our current understanding of wine not be thinner and less rich? Who
can comprehend this culture without reading the only texts that preserve
it? How can these texts be read if they are unavailable to read?::
So, I've spent many years carefully transcribing such texts, letter
by letter, from my own collection of early books and manuscripts on
the history of wine-making. :: And, for each transcription, I've
written a brief and informal introduction, to give some idea why I at
least think that particular text is worth reading. All of these introductions
are available in the section called, well, Introductions.
Since it's quick and easy to download and browse, it may be a good place
to start. :: All this may appeal to a dozen
people worldwide. But they are my friends.

::
The second section is called Freedom
of the Press, after A.J. Liebling's observation that freedom of
the press is guaranteed only to those who own one, which of course I
do. So I thought it would be a good title for a long conversation on
a large number of topics, mostly drawn from the questions I'm most frequently
asked. I'd like it to be a way to keep in touch with, and respond to,
people I don't have a chance to talk with in person. :: And if that isn't enough, there's
a link to an interview
with Allan Bree, which should surely do the trick. We discuss many
dread but amusing issues, such as terroir (meaning "turf
" in English, or at least, in American); along with varietal identity,
and authenticity, and typicity, and so on.

::
This site is a long-term project of mine, which I will keep
adding to for many years, whenever my work permits. At the moment, it's
barely beginning to ferment. :: In the meanwhile, it remains true
that any website is just electrons. They're not endangered; I enjoy
playing with them; and I hope they provide someone with pleasure out
there. I hope the same for my wines.